Sarah Vs the Best Friend
by Afficted
Summary: Part VI of the Postcard Series. Morgan is back. Sarah is jealous. Chuck is oblivious. Rated T for... whatever.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Sorry that it has been awhile. Life, y'know. Of late, I've been holding off on posting anything until I have the entire section complete. That way, if I need to make any retroactive changes to fit the ending, I can do so. Well, I still don't have the section complete, but I feel semi-confident that I can post without serious danger. Plus, reviews will give me more impetus to get the job done! (Hint, hint.) **

**Thanks to my wife and Anon for being Editors Extraordinaire as always. **

**Thanks to you all for reading and reviewing (and for being patient)! **

**I don't own anybody in the Chuck Universe, not even Morgan.**

**Oh, and there's a lot of deep breaths and gritting of teeth in this section. Maybe I'll bring in some variety by having grinding and gnashing of teeth.**

**______________________________________________________________________**

The sun began to shine upon the city of Burbank as a lovely barefoot woman (wearing only a bed sheet) began to yell at a short man sitting on the ground, oblivious to the shocked expression of her boyfriend (wearing only boxers) who had just been laughing with that same short man.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?"

Her boyfriend, Chuck Bartowski, frantically began to make similar "shushing" gestures and sounds that he had recently used on the sitting man. "Sarah! You'll wake up everybody in the complex!"

"Oh yeah? Like who?" snapped Sarah.

On cue, the huge form of Colonel John Casey came springing out of his apartment, apparently ready for war, growling, "What is it?" He was wearing only a bathrobe. The other three all stared at him, especially the man on the ground, Morgan Grimes.

Morgan had always felt unnerved by John Casey, who had struck Morgan as an extremely bizarre individual. Casey appeared almost incapable of having fun, behaved like a bully, and oddly, was the best salesman in the history of the Burbank Buy More. Worst of all, Morgan would swear that Casey was trying to steal Morgan's place as Chuck Bartowski's best friend. Bad enough that Sarah Walker had monopolized Chuck's time for much of the last two years. As Chuck's girlfriend, she was almost expected to do that. John Casey was another matter. Their fellow Buy More colleague had come into the lives of Chuck and Morgan like a storm from nowhere. It wasn't just that Casey was working with them though. As it turned out, Casey lived right next door to the Bartowskis. Casey suddenly was found at Bartowski family events. Casey would sometimes be seen watching Chuck and Morgan from his window. At first, Chuck also seemed rightfully intimidated by Casey. Yet, the two would always drive into work together. They could often be seen having intense discussions in the Buy More, though Morgan admitted, the two never seemed happy about it. Morgan later learned that Chuck and Casey had even resigned from the Buy More together! That hurt Morgan's feelings, especially. He had always imagined that he and Chuck would share that glorious moment of quitting. But Morgan couldn't be too put out. After all, he had been the first to leave, and he didn't consult Chuck first, so what right did he have to complain? In fact, maybe Chuck had been inspired by Morgan's example! But then, Morgan had learned that Chuck had opened up a downtown office, working with Sarah and Casey. At times, the realities of Morgan's existence seemed to flicker around the edges.

Though just his presence would be sufficient to cause Morgan consternation; at the moment John Casey was even more threatening and intimidating than normal. Partially, it was because the man's face was a wreck. Casey sported two black eyes, a fat lip, and Morgan guessed he didn't want to see Casey display his teeth. There was also the fact that Casey had one hand reaching into the inside of his robe, apparently holding something large and bulging. Finding that much more disturbing, Morgan looked back at Casey's face only to find Casey at least trying to stare back at him.

"That you, Grimes?"

"Uh, yeah, John. Hi."

"You got rid of the beard. You look different."

"_I_ look different?"

Apparently ignoring Morgan's incredulous tone, Casey turned to Chuck and Sarah. "Everything all right here?"

Sarah opened her mouth, but Chuck quickly said, "We're fine, John, just fine. Um, you can go now."

Casey grunted, said, "Carry on," then turned around (still holding the thing in his robe) and walked back to his apartment.

"What happened to him? Wait, what am I saying? You still haven't told me what happened to you, Chuck!"

"Um, uh-" Chuck looked at Sarah, and said, "Bar fight?" His girlfriend nodded. Chuck turned back to Morgan and said, "Bar fight."

"Since when do you get into bar fights? Since when do you go to bars?"

"Uh, Casey gets lonely and drinks. And nobody likes a lonely drunk. So, I took him to a bar. Turns out he's an angry drunk."

"Ah." Morgan nodded. He could see that. Sort of.

Sarah said in a testy voice, "Could we _please_ continue this conversation inside after Chuck and I are dressed?" The two men quickly nodded agreement.

They walked into the front door to find the living room with various pieces of male and female apparel haphazardly scattered on floor or furniture.

"Cool!" exclaimed Morgan. "Guess you had a fun night! I've been there."

Sarah glared at him, gathered her clothes, and left to enter the bathroom. Chuck watched her leave, then gathering up his own clothes, he said, "I'd better talk to her. She looks pretty mad."

Morgan shrugged, sat on the couch, and said, "I'll wait."

________________________________________________________________________

When Chuck entered the bathroom (and promptly locked the door), Sarah was already in the shower. "Um...", he began.

The curtain yanked open and Sarah's lathered head poked out. "What? Was? That?" She was glaring at him.

"Ah, I haven't actually asked him for an explanation yet. I thought you might want to be there for the interrogation."

"I'm not talking about him! I'm talking about you!" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "How is it that you were outside without _any_ protection, going after a potential threat, just in your boxers?"

"Oh!" Chuck scratched his hair, distractedly. "Well, uh, I woke up to see you wrapped in a sheet, sneaking into our room with your knife. Then I heard the sound of the glass hitting the floor, and figuring where it came from, I decided to provide you support by going out around front. Only I recognized Morgan, and I must have realized what was about to happen because the Intersect kicked on, and I went flying at him. Pretty cool how I caught the knife, huh? I've never done anything like that before."

Sarah gritted her teeth and shoved the curtain back in place vanishing behind it.

Chuck was nonplussed. "Honey?"

"That was a completely unnecessary danger you placed yourself in Chuck," he heard from behind the curtain.

Chuck rolled his eyes. _Here we go again. _"I'd say it was entirely necessary Sarah, given that I saved Morgan's life, thereby saving you from a lot of guilt."

There was a pause, and then he heard a cold voice say, "I need to concentrate on showering. Please start some coffee for your breaking-and-entering friend."

Chuck considering arguing it further, but he decided he might be better off giving her a chance to calm down first. He left the bathroom.

Joining Morgan again in the living room, Chuck began to shove on his clothes.

"Trouble in paradise?" asked Morgan.

"She's not happy with me, and she's really not happy with you," replied Chuck.

"Hey, I can explain!"

"Better wait until she's out. Otherwise, you'll have to repeat it."

Ten minutes later, they were joined by Sarah, freshly showered, but still appearing quite irritated. Chuck handed Morgan a cup full of coffee, which Morgan promptly handed to Sarah. With nary a thank you, she snatched it away from him, so abruptly, that both men were surprised that none of the hot liquid spilled out.

"Morgan, explain why you were trying to break into our home," she growled. It occurred to Chuck that Morgan had never faced Sarah's bad side before, and hoped that his buddy wouldn't further antagonize her.

Morgan stammered, "You- you locked up the Morgan Door."

"So you broke in?" Her voice was rising in volume.

"Hey, I didn't mean to! I thought it must have been a mistake! The window was just jammed or something! So, I tried to force it, and uh... well, I forced it too much. I accidentally cracked the window. I didn't hurt myself, fortunately."

Sarah wasn't at all satisfied by that answer. "I saw you using your elbow to smash the window in."

"Well, of course I did!" responded Morgan. Then his brow furrowed. "You were in the room? I didn't see you."

Sarah responded dryly, "I was trying not to make myself visible to the man who was using his elbow to smash in my window."

"You startled me too, buddy," added Chuck. "I didn't recognize you at first, and that's why I pushed you."

"Oh." Morgan hadn't even questioned Chuck's reasoning for having done that. In his world, it all seemed to make sense. "Well, anyway," he continued, "after I'd already cracked the thing, I couldn't just leave the window as it was. I had to get inside so I could clean up." When Sarah didn't immediately express understanding, Morgan gave Chuck a look as if to say, "_This is completely self-evident. Why doesn't she get this?" _

Chuck, on the other hand, was long used to this line of logic, and in an attempt to lower the tension, quickly said, "Well, that sort of makes sense." _In a Morgan way. _However, Chuck immediately saw that Sarah was not in the least bit placated, and decided it might be best if he took over the questioning. "Buddy, uh, what brings you here, anyway... from Hawaii... at the break of Dawn?" He said the last words with a meaningful tone.

Morgan flushed a little, and said, "Aw, you don't want to hear that long story, Chuck."

Eyes flashing to Sarah and back, Chuck said, "I kinda do, Morgan."

Morgan blurted out, "It just wasn't working for us, Man!"

Chuck's brow furrowed. "Wasn't working? You mean, you and Anna?"

"Yeah!" Morgan wore the lost, confused look that he so often sported. "We were doomed, and I... I just had to leave."

Chuck felt genuinely saddened, and even Sarah's concern appeared to overpower her anger. "I'm sorry to hear that Morgan," she said. She actually put her hand reassuringly on Morgan's shoulder.

"Yeah, me too, buddy," chimed in Chuck. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Morgan's eyes bulged. "Isn't it obvious? She made me shave my beard!"

Sarah's hand snapped off of Morgan's shoulder. "That's it?"

"I nurtured that beard for my entire adult life!" Morgan wailed.

Sarah sat down in her chair and crossed her arms. Chuck rested his face in his hands momentarily. _Oh, Morgan. _"Y'know, buddy, I'm sure if you were to call Anna, the two of you could work this out."

"Never Chuck! It's not just the inhumane assault on my most important facial asset." Both Sarah and Chuck raised their eyebrows simultaneously. "It's her utter lack of empathy in understanding what this loss means to me!"

"Morgan, did you even _try_ to talk to her?"

The outrage and self-righteousness seemed to drain out of Morgan. "Yeah, I tried, Dude, but..." He took a deep breath, and then admitted, "She said she'd had enough of my crap. She kicked me out, Chuck."

Chuck returned to feeling sorry for Morgan. However, one glance at Sarah was all that was necessary to realize that she didn't go along with this viewpoint. Chuck's attention was turned back to his friend, though, when Morgan continued, "And I couldn't go forward with the Hibachi thing. I got scared." He appeared very low. "So, I flew back late last night. I didn't tell anybody I was coming. Turns out, Mom and Big Mike rented out my room."

"Oh no," said Chuck softly. "Oh, Morgan, I am so sorry. Did you sleep on their couch?"

"No man," Morgan said harshly. "I've got my pride. I wandered around for a few hours, trying to figure out what to do. And, well, that eventually led me here. When I didn't see you guys through the window, I tried to get in, and, well, here we are. I'm sorry about the window, Sarah."

Sarah looked like she was struggling to stay angry, but was gradually losing again. Finally, she said, "All right, Morgan. I'll help you clean it up, and I'm not even going to ask you to pay for a new window. You just scared me, OK? In the future, you're going to have to knock on the front door. The Morgan Door is gone."

"But, it's an institution!" whined Morgan.

Chuck said, "It's gone, buddy. It's gone. You'll have to just get used to a real door like other people."

"Better yet, call before you come over," added Sarah.

Morgan appeared stunned to have such demands placed upon him, but ultimately he shrugged, saying, "All right, I guess so. Geez, you leave for awhile and the world changes on you."

"Ain't that the truth," commiserated Chuck, before saying, "Morgan, can you excuse us for a moment? I want to talk to Sarah about something in the other room."

"That's fine," said Morgan. "Mind if I raid your fridge?"

"Fine," said Chuck, before Sarah could open her mouth. "Honey?" he said, curling a finger toward her.

Giving one last semi-annoyed look at Morgan who had his back turned to her while he began to pull items methodically from the refrigerator, Sarah followed Chuck into the bedroom, both of them staying away from the glass.

When Chuck turned around, he immediately launched into his spiel. "Wow, you can see how really down he is right now, can't you?"

Sarah replied, "I guess so, but he brought it on himself."

"Well, yeah, that's Morgan, but even so, he needs our help."

Sarah paused, suddenly appearing quite wary. "What did you have in mind, Chuck?"

Chuck said very fast, "We've got an extra room-" Sarah groaned in horror. Even faster Chuck added, "Just until he finds his own place! Please, Sarah, please? He's been my best friend for years!"

Sarah's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth to say something. Chuck gave her the puppy-dog look. Sarah froze, and just stared at him for a moment, hypnotized, before her shoulders slumped.

"Those eyes are a weapon, and should be made illegal," she grumbled. Chuck smiled, but Sarah lifted her finger up to him. "You will help him find an apartment as soon as possible, you hear me?" She looked at him, petulantly. In turn, Chuck leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he said.

"Mm. Those eyes aren't always going to work, you know. I _will_ learn to resist you. Anyway, go and tell him."

Chuck went to tell his best friend the good news, leaving his girlfriend, Sarah Walker, to her own thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Thanks for all the reviews folks! Please keep 'em coming!**

**Thanks to my wife and Anon for editing this sucker. We may disagree sometimes, but you are always both patient and I take your feedback seriously.**

**I own nothing in the Chuck Universe! **

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For Sarah's purposes, it was fortunate that Morgan had been awake the entire night. She regretted suggesting that Chuck make coffee, but even with the caffeine, Morgan was repeatedly yawning. She immediately set up the Master Bedroom for his use. Chuck quirked an eyebrow. Even though he had convinced her to let Morgan _temporarily_ stay, he probably hadn't expected her to go so far to help make his friend comfortable. Well, that was fine with Sarah. She fully expected that Chuck would reciprocate this accommodation, when she made her own requests.

Morgan did not argue when directed to sleep. They saw him to the bedroom, and after Chuck reminded Morgan that under no circumstances was he to walk outside of that room (or the bathroom) naked, they closed the door.

Immediately, Sarah put on her business face. "Get showered and dressed, Chuck."

Chuck seemed perplexed. "Weren't we going to go back to sleep?"

"Nope. We're going to talk to Casey about this."

"Aw, c'mon, Sarah. Casey saw that Morgan was here, and-"

"That's not it. We need to talk to him about your latest flash."

"Oh." Chuck appeared somewhat disquieted. It might have had something to do with the piercing gaze under which Sarah was holding him at the moment. She wondered if he was thinking about the conversation they had last night. _She_ certainly was.

At least, Chuck didn't argue at that point. 15 minutes later, he was ready, and they were knocking on the door of their partner. Casey apparently hadn't gone back to sleep either. He was dressed in casual pants and polo shirt, sipping on orange juice when he opened the door. While his face still looked awful, a night's sleep had provided at least a little improvement for him, because he was his normal surly self. "We weren't supposed to meet 'til this evening. You miss me that much?" he grumbled.

"I had a flash," sighed Chuck. He immediately pushed his way past Casey into the Colonel's apartment. Sarah followed.

Casey shut the door, muttering, "Oh goody." He didn't offer them any breakfast.

They explained the events of Morgan's break-in, and Chuck's rescue. If Casey was curious as to why they weren't in their bedroom in the first place, he didn't ask. However, when Chuck described flashing upon seeing an endangered Morgan, Casey's glance flitted ever so briefly to Sarah, and the tiniest of smiles crossed his face. She noticed, and didn't like it.

"So," Casey said, "Either what I said last night got through and fixed you-" Sarah and Chuck exchanged annoyed looks - "or you've switched your affections, elsewhere."

Chuck apparently didn't notice Sarah grinding her teeth. He walked up to Casey, and said, "Cute. That's cute. Seriously, how're we going to figure out which one it is?" He quickly looked back at Sarah, and clarified, "Not that I have affections or feelings or whatever for Morgan, but he's my friend, and maybe the protection instinct worked for him too." He looked back at Casey, who appeared momentarily lost in thought.

Then the big man shrugged and casually said, "This is easy, really. I just try to punch you in the gut again. If you flash, you stop me. Anyway, here goes."

Simultaneously, Sarah stood up, yelling, "CASEY!" while Chuck shrieked, "WAIT!"

Then Casey punched Chuck in the stomach and he folded over, falling on the floor. Casey looked down at Chuck, said, "Bartowski, you're so fickle," and took another sip of his juice.

Sarah was at Chuck's side, checking on him, while yelling, "GOD DAMN IT!"

"Oh, get a grip Walker, he's fine. I didn't hit him that hard." He proceeded to make toast for himself while she glowered, and Chuck gasped out, "You... will.... PAY!"

Sarah saw Chuck back to their apartment and bedroom, kissed him on the forehead, and marched back to Casey's place. She didn't bother knocking this time. She walked straight up to him, and sent her fist crashing into Casey's abdomen. The man's toast went flying, but he didn't go down. As before, he didn't hit her back. An initial grimace from him turned into a smile as she cradled her still-bruised knuckles. "That's OK, Walker. You didn't hit me that hard either."

Sarah snarled, and said, "Do you _really_ want more, Casey?"

His grin widened. "You sure it's _me_ you want to be hitting, Walker?"

Her eyes narrowed. "And you're telling _Chuck_ to grow up." She turned around and began to walk out. As she reached the door, she heard Casey say, "I always _knew_ there was something about those two." She resisted the urge to slam the door behind her so he wouldn't get the impression that he had gotten to her.

For a moment, Sarah stood between apartments, absently rubbing her knuckles, and wondered how unhealthy it was to go through so many emotional extremes in the space of 24 hours. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. Under normal circumstances, she'd go to her punching bag and have a cathartic workout, but frankly, she'd done enough punching to last her awhile. She was on edge. Lovemaking with Chuck the prior evening had helped relieve her stress, but now the stress was back in spades. Well, Morgan was asleep, and Sarah imagined with a little tender loving care, she could get Chuck back in the mood for some therapeutic activity from which they would both most definitely benefit.

Sarah's smile lasted until she got into the house, and once again, heard noise from the bedroom she and Chuck now shared. This time, it wasn't breaking glass, but her smile faded anyway. Numbly, she walked inside to find Chuck and Morgan sitting side-by-side on the edge of the bed, game controllers in their hand, enthusiastically playing _Chain of Command_. She blinked, and then cleared her throat.

Neither man turned from the video screen, but they said in chorus, "Hey Sarah."

Trying and failing to keep a petulant tone out of her voice, Sarah asked, "Why aren't you sleeping, Morgan?"

"Hey, I tried - GOT HIM! - But y'know the caffeine must've kicked in, and besides - Oooh, Nice one, Chuck! - There was too much noise from you guys going into and out of the apartment."

Sarah thought it was a good thing Morgan wasn't looking at her face right now. He might be unnerved by her expression.

Chuck chimed in, "Morgan checked in on me, and saw that I was a bit down, and so he suggested a game to cheer me up! Works as always." She could hear the smile in Chuck's voice. She looked at the two men, heads side by side. She thought about the satisfying sound it would make if she were to knock the two heads together.

Sarah went into the living room, lay down on the couch, grabbed a cushion, brought it to her face, and gave a muffled scream into it.

__________________________________________________________________

Later, at 6 p.m., the team had assembled in the Downtown office for the meeting with Beckman.

This was none too soon as far as Sarah was concerned. Chuck had been playing games with Morgan all day. About an hour into it, Chuck had come out, and asked Sarah if she minded that he was doing this. She told him it was fine, and he took her at her word. Sarah did not want to begrudge Chuck this time with his friend. After all, he hadn't actually seen Morgan for months. Chuck had been known to have marathon gaming sessions that went even longer than this. Furthermore, the gaming _had_ definitely cheered him up. And it wasn't as if Chuck and Sarah had made specific plans for the day. It had never been discussed. Even so, she found herself wishing he hadn't accepted her statement at face value. Yet, the fact that she wished that bothered her immensely.

Sarah was an independent person. She was used to spending time by herself. She was neither possessive nor clingy. She was not the type of person to deny her boyfriend time with another friend. With that in mind, she listened quietly and attentively to Chuck describe the hours-length gaming session he had just experienced, and repressed the urge to tear her hair out. Well, at least this wasn't as bad as contemplating the reprimands she was about to receive from Beckman.

To Sarah's surprise, Beckman made no comments about the injuries to Chuck or Casey. The Colonel, for his part, didn't make any mention of Sarah having inflicted his injuries.

Chuck, as was his wont, didn't hold back his feelings about what had occurred, and the General hardly denied her involvement in the planning of the test.

"I am not about to defend my actions to you Mr. Bartowski, nor do I expect the Colonel to do so. As your superior officers, our interest is not in your comfort but in your effectiveness. We will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that effectiveness."

Chuck fumed. "So all that stuff about the progress with the Ring; that was a lie?"

"No, Mr. Bartowski. The progress was as reported. Only the Los Angeles warehouse was misdirection for purposes of your training."

Casey then brought up the Morgan incident.

The General said, "I am not pleased that Mr. Grimes is going to be living in your residence for any length of time." (It was all Sarah could do not to loudly express agreement.) "That will pose a security risk to your operations."

"If I may, General," said Casey, "We were able to function with minimal problems when Chuck was living with Doctors Bartowski and Woodcomb. To be frank, Mr. Grimes is not anywhere near as perceptive or intelligent as them. This is a man who was knocked unconscious by Mr. Bartowski and thought he fainted. This is a man who was threatened by Ty Bennett and thought it was cool. This is a man who-"

"I think you've made your point, Casey," Chuck interrupted testily.

"We could probably walk around carrying our service revolvers, and he wouldn't notice."

"That is totally – He would _so_ notice!" sputtered Chuck.

Beckman pursed her lips, and said dryly, "I suppose the risk is minimal, as long as the situation is temporary."

She then switched the subject back to the functioning of the Intersect.

"Mr. Bartowski, when you are able to activate the Intersect, the results are indeed impressive. However, thus far you have only been able to flash when two specific people you care about are threatened with harm."

"Well," Chuck said, "Before I was only able to flash to protect one person. I've just achieved a 100% improvement on my baseline." Not even Sarah smiled at that one.

Beckman gave him an annoyed glance. "Mr. Bartowski, it is time that you began to take your new role, seriously."

Though he was obviously still angry at Beckman, Chuck appeared at least somewhat chastened. "Um… Sorry." He took a deep breath and then continued. "General, I am invested in learning all the skills that Colonel Casey would teach me. He has told me what changes in attitude I need to make, and I agree with him, but I'm telling you, I do not consciously control how or when I flash. It's not like I'm choosing when and when not to use this!"

"The Intersect only flashes when those you care about are threatened," Beckman said.

Chuck nodded.

Beckman continued, "Well then, don't you care about your own safety? How about the well-being of your country? Because both are threatened if you don't master this."

Chuck's voice was almost a whine now. "General, I do care about myself and the country. I am taking this seriously. I just need time!"

"You need time? You have a week. At the end of that week, you will present a plan of action as to how you are going to increase your effectiveness. If that plan is not satisfactory, we will need to reevaluate your position."

Chuck's eyes widened. Sarah kept herself under control, though anxiety flooded through her. For his part, Casey maintained his normal appearance of stoicism.

In the meantime, you are dismissed," Beckman said to Chuck.

Chuck glared at the screen, but turned around and left upstairs to the office. Part of Sarah wanted to watch him go, but she maintained her discipline and kept her gaze fixed on the General. With Chuck gone, now was the time when she was going to get the brunt.

Beckman turned her attention to them. "In spite of the complications with the Intersect's development, I do not wish for you to remain idle."

Sarah paused. Where were the questions? The reprimanding?

Casey said, "Do we have any new Ring leads we can follow, General?"

"Not as yet, Colonel. So, I'm going to assign you to a new matter. We have renewed Triad activity in your area. Given that you've dealt with them twice before, you've been invited to participate in the latest operation."

"Invited?" Sarah asked.

"Mei-Ling Cho. Following her defection, the Los Angeles FBI office brought her on as their Triad consultant. She's pursuing her target, and in the interest of inter-agency cooperation, she asked for you."

Sarah noted that Casey was smiling enthusiastically. A Triad operation practically guaranteed violence. Sarah had to admit, hitting an actual enemy sounded good right now. "When may we start, General?" she asked.

"I'll send you an address to meet Cho tomorrow night. Chuck will need to stay in your vehicle, of course."

"Actually, General," said Casey, "Regarding Bartowski, may I suggest an alternative course of action?"

"Your suggestion, Colonel?"

"Leaving Chuck in the car never works. He always manages to get out of it, anyway, and get himself into more danger."

"What about the locking mechanism you used for the test?"

"We could get another one, sure, but, the point is, you said you wanted him in the field, anyway."

"Yes, but with a fully functioning Intersect."

"General, there's only so long that we're going to be able to put him through these tests. The Intersect is a field instrument. Even prior to the new version, we always knew that it was less effective to have Chuck in one place while you bring the data to him. Intersect or no Intersect, he is not going to grow into this role unless he's given real trial by fire. I hate to say it, but we can just do what we've done in the past, and protect him, and even without the new Intersect, Chuck managed to survive without injury under real conditions."

Sarah was shocked that Casey would suggest this. Yet, he was right.

"I agree with Colonel Casey, General."

________________________________________________________________________

Chuck and Sarah drove home in silence for awhile. Sarah's thoughts were scattered. Not that she had been relishing being chewed out by Beckman, but the fact that the General hadn't even mentioned Sarah's handling of Chuck's test confused the hell out of her. Meanwhile, she was also extremely concerned for Chuck. He had been understandably freaked out about having to develop a "plan" within a week or face consequences. Learning that he'd be participating in a new mission helped somewhat, though Chuck couldn't help but make a snarky comment about it possibly being another test. Now, he looked almost as anxious as she felt.

"I'm anxious," said Chuck.

"I could tell," said Sarah. She didn't tell him that she was feeling the same. She wanted to support him, not have him worry about her.

"Y'know what would relax me right now?" he asked

Sarah smiled. "What?"

"There's a new pizza place that just opened up, and they've got an all-you-can-eat buffet. The three of us should go!"

Sarah's smile was frozen on her face. _The three of us._

"Um, what do you think, Hon?" Chuck was looking at her strangely. Maybe he noticed that her smile was fairly exaggerated at the moment?

Sarah gave her most convincing yawn. "Actually, Chuck, I'm getting kind of tired. We were up late the last two nights, and got up really early this morning." _Because of MORGAN! _She pinched her thigh on the side Chuck couldn't see, to clear her head and to keep herself in control. "Why don't you two go ahead? I'm going to call it early."

Chuck seemed concerned. "Are you sure, Sarah?"

"Of course." The smile was hurting her mouth.

________________________________________________________________________

Morgan, of course, was overjoyed at the prospect of Pizza Buffet with Chuck.

After sending them on their way, Sarah re-entered the apartment, her head drooping. She wasn't sure if it was from actual physical or emotional exhaustion. Sarah considered just falling on her bed and sleeping until morning. However, as she was about to go there, her gaze fell on the telephone.

She considered. Then, she considered some more. Finally, she sat down and began to dial. _Desperate times…_

The phone picked up. It was who she wanted.

"Hi," said Sarah, "I could use your help." She paused and listened to the words of reassurance, then a question. "Well, you should know… Morgan is back in town."

Less than an hour away, Ellie Bartowski froze in horror, before replying, "I'll be right over."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! Well, again, thanks for reading and reviewing. I love them reviews so much, and always look forward to more, more, more! (I'm greedy, I know.) **

**Kudos to my wife and Anon for editing my stuff. **

**I don't own Ellie Bartowski (and Morgan, neither do you) or anybody else in the Chuck Universe.**

**________________________________________________________________________**

_Oh my God. What have I done?_

No means of dissuasion were effective. Ellie Bartowski was on her way. At least Sarah was able to convince Chuck's sister to meet her at a neutral location, a bar on Seventh. This was within reasonable walking distance from the apartment in case Sarah should decide to get intoxicated, an option of high merit at the moment. The note she left indicated that she had changed her mind about resting, and decided to go work out. She hoped that Chuck would take her word on that and not go Downtown in search of her. Of course, if she came back plastered, that would indicate that she had been lying and - _Oh Hell! _She had let him go without protection! Sarah began cursing herself as she entered her car, attached her Blue Tooth, and peeled out while making her call.

"Ellie, something's come up! I can't make it. We have to reschedule!"

"Uh-uh. Not a chance, Sarah. This is urgent and we are going to meet."

"But I can't meet you at the bar!"

"Fair enough. Tell me where you _would_ like to meet."

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They sat in Sarah's Porsche. Ellie had arrived five minutes previous. She had tried to hug Sarah upon seeing her. Instead, the blonde had grabbed her, pushed her into a crouching position, and had her walk funny back to Sarah's car.

They sat for ten more minutes until Ellie worked up the nerve to ask. "So. Why are we spying on my brother and Morgan eating pizza?"

Sarah snapped her head over to Ellie so fast, that Ellie nearly jumped. Sarah's eyes appeared wild. For a moment, she seemed unsure of how to respond and then she said, "Ellie, I'm a bit insecure."

"Ahhhhh…. Yeah, I can see that." Ellie had never seen Sarah like this before. Granted, Chuck's girlfriend had always appeared slightly on edge. Oh, she tried to hide it, but Ellie had been able to tell. Even so, she had never seen Sarah, actually _rattled_. Ellie wished that Sarah would take the top down off the Porsche, because Ellie had a feeling Sarah would jump through the roof with the slightest provocation. With that in mind, Ellie made sure that Sarah was watching, while she gently reached over and laid her hand on top of her friend's. "Sweetie, relax." Ellie modeled deep breathing. Slowly, Sarah followed her example. "Good," Ellie said keeping her voice even keel. "Now, tell me."

"Not only is Morgan back, he's staying at our apartment."

"I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW this was going to happen!" Ellie yelled. And she had. More than two decades of dealing with Morgan Grimes had helped Ellie predict _exactly_ what would transpire. Even as Morgan was leaving for Hawaii, Ellie had known it was just a matter of time before he returned and inserted himself back into their lives. Although in her heart, Chuck's sister loved Morgan in her own way, she knew him for what he was: a chronic and recurring fungus. So charged was Ellie by having her beliefs confirmed, she only then just realized that Sarah was no longer deeply breathing anymore, but had very noticeably tensed up again. "Oh God, sorry Sarah. Y'know, it's just… Morgan."

Sarah nodded. Then, she proceeded to tell Ellie the whole story. Ellie listened attentively, letting Sarah talk without interruption, although certain parts; specifically, the bits about Morgan leaving Anna because of his beard, and him breaking into the Bartowski apartment, almost led Ellie to jump up and scream some more. She managed by staring at Morgan from her seat and imagining that she could psychically crush him. Once it was done, Ellie took another deep breath for her _own_ calm, and then told her friend what needed to be said.

"You've obviously got to kick the little turd out."

For a second, Sarah seemed on the verge of a smile, but then she let her head drop and said, "I can't do that, Ellie."

"Sarah, I have had many years of experience with Morgan. If you think this stay of his is going to be short-term, you are mistaken. Morgan's life _dream_ has been to live with Chuck.

Sarah's eyes became wider still.

"I totally knew this kind of thing would happen," continued Ellie. "Morgan has called Chuck his 'life partner' or some ridiculous kind of nonsense like that. And while he's around, mark my words, Chuck's growth will –pffffffffffft – stop. Morgan is his immaturity blanket. You've got to take action before Chuck decides to quit this great new job he has and skip gaily back with Morgan to the Buy More."

Sarah bit her lower lip. She seemed more upset now. Suddenly, Ellie remembered that she was trying to calm Sarah down. "I've just freaked you out more, haven't I?" asked Ellie.

Sarah nodded her head.

"OK," Ellie said slowly, "Let's try this in a more sane way. First off, I'm going to tell you - Sarah, everything will be fine. OK? Now, I'm going to let you tell me how you feel about this. That work?"

Sarah paused, then she said in a mournful voice, "I'm jealous, Ellie."

"Jealous… of Morgan?"

"I know," Sarah said, sorrowfully. "Pathetic."

Ellie considered that for a moment before answering, "Well, you've got company, then. I've been jealous of him, too."

For the first time since Ellie had seen her that evening, Sarah smiled, though it was only briefly. Then she said, "This isn't like me. I don't get jealous."

"Morgan makes us all a little crazy," said Ellie, wryly.

Sarah continued, "Chuck and I once got into an argument about Morgan. I didn't understand why Morgan was so important in Chuck's life. Chuck told me about how Morgan supported him when your parents left. He told me that Morgan was family to him. I had such a hard time, because I'd never had a best friend like that before. Not until Chuck. Now, Chuck's my best friend, and yet, Morgan…."

"Ooooohhhh, I think I'm starting to get this," Ellie said. "The whole 'guys and their best friends' bit. Chuck should be saying that you are his best friend, but he's still saying that Morgan is his best friend, right?"

Sarah nodded.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "I've had Devon pull that same crap on me. He's got this buddy named Rick, and he and Rick have been "bros" since they were in first grade. So, naturally, Rick is his 'best friend'." Ellie made the finger-quoting motion on the last two words and then she put one of her fingers down her throat, and mimed gagging, before continuing. "You know why guys do this, don't you? Because they're in denial."

Sarah appeared confused. Ellie continued, "It's OK to have a girlfriend, but it's not OK to have the girlfriend take over your buddy's title as 'best friend'. No guy wants to admit that this has happened for two reasons. One, it's like they've betrayed their former best friend. They've moved on. Two, it makes them look whipped. No guy wants to admit they're whipped."

Sarah began to protest, "Chuck's not whipped."

Ellie replied, "Of course, he's not whipped. You just have complete power over him."

"Wait a minute, isn't that the same-"

"No, no!" Ellie was waving her finger. "'Whipped' is an insulting term. 'Complete power' is simply a reality." Sarah looked even more confused now. Ellie took her hands and said, "Sarah, Morgan is no threat to you, whatsoever. He's annoying, and he'll drive you crazy, but his presence doesn't change the fact that my brother is head over heels in love with you. Chuck can keep calling Morgan his best friend until the cows come home. The reality is that you are Chuck's best friend. Chuck may not say it out loud, but I think he knows it inside. And by the way, Morgan has kept Chuck afloat when he was down, for which I am thankful, but _you_ are the one who brought Chuck up. You're the one who made him happy. Do you understand me?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't really experienced this before."

"That kinda surprises me. With your looks, smarts, and confidence-"

"Oh, I've got experience with lots of guys-" Her eyes widened in realization of what she just said, and for a moment she looked panicky again.

Ellie put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Continue."

Nervously, Sarah said, "It's just none of them have ever made me feel the way your brother does."

Ellie smiled warmly. "He's really special, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah," breathed Sarah.

They sat for a moment in silence, smiling and watching the two men eating pizza and chatting.

"You're still going to have to give Morgan the heave-ho," commented Ellie.

"Oh, Ellie, I can't-"

"He will drive you crazy, Sarah. Take it from one who knows."

Sarah, visibly calmer, said, "I'll just have to take it. It'll be brief."

"All right, if you say so. Just lock up any potential weapons that you might use on him, so you'll prevent a domestic tragedy."

For some reason, Sarah looked peculiarly at Ellie then, before her mouth opened in a wide smile. "Sounds like a plan."

"Well," Ellie stretched, "I could use a bite, before I head back home. What say we go in there and surprise them?"

"Um," Sarah was beginning to get alarmed again, "Ah, actually Ellie, if you don't mind. I'd just as soon leave them where they are. I don't want Chuck to know that I called you, if that's OK."

"OK. Well, you want to go somewhere else?"

"Um." Sarah pulled at her collar. "You… you go ahead, Ellie. I'm going to take off soon. I just would like to watch them for a little while longer."

Ellie furrowed her brows. "Um, Sarah, you don't normally do this, right? Watch my brother when he doesn't know you're around?"

Sarah quickly replied, "Of course not, Ellie. If I did, that'd make me a stalker." Her eyes seemed shifty.

Ellie nodded slowly, reached over, gave Sarah a hug, and then returned to her car, thinking, _I really do not want to dwell on that. _

________________________________________________________________________


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi all! I'm enjoying these reviews that are coming along. I do sense this strange pattern though. It seems that very few people are fans of Morgan, and want Sarah to kill him. **

**Hmmmmmm…..**

**Well, I'm looking forward to your reactions to this chapter!**

**Thanks to my wife and Anon for editing this sucker. **

**I own naught a person, place or thing in the Chuck Universe.**

**________________________________________________________________________**

Sarah left the meeting with Ellie feeling much more relaxed. She felt more confident of her dominance in Chuck's heart. As long as she had that, she could handle any trifling annoyances that Morgan might present.

Or so she thought.

As it turned out, Mei-Ling Cho was held over on another assignment and presumably would not be available for another week. Sarah came to regret this, as she really had been looking forward to the promise of a violent mission to relax her.

No mission meant having to deal with the day to day rigmarole of running the cover business. Normally, this would not be so much of a problem, because normally, there were no customers or visitors to their workplace.

However, Morgan Grimes had come to town.

Sarah supposed it would be unreasonable for Morgan not to want to see the new place where his best friend worked. So, Monday, Chuck and Sarah arrived at their Downtown office with Morgan. They had notified Casey in advance who decided to spend the entire time in the Castle below. (This was where he usually preferred to hang out, anyway. Morgan was simply extra incentive.) When Morgan asked where the big man was, they explained that Casey was sick.

Chuck gave the tour (just the upstairs, of course). Although Sarah would periodically give input, Chuck was the primary source to explain what they did there, given that he and Morgan spoke the same technical language.

Sarah was annoyed when Morgan asked to see some of their end-product, but Chuck explained that the end-product was confidential, and that they couldn't even share it with best friends.

All in all, the "tour" took an hour longer than it was supposed to. Sarah found herself furiously texting back and forth to Casey who wanted to know why Morgan was still upstairs and why Chuck wasn't downstairs working out.

Finally, she said, "Morgan, I'm glad you were able to join us today, but Chuck and I really need to get to work now."

Morgan said, "Oh, oops. Sorry. Listen, you guys go right ahead." Sitting down in a chair next to the receptionist desk and yanking out his iPod, Morgan then put in his Ear Buds. Sarah stood frozen for a moment, before Chuck touched her gently on the shoulder and said,

"I'll talk to him."

It took another half-hour to convince Morgan to leave.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On Tuesday, Morgan dropped in with lunch.

Lunch with Morgan took two hours and it was all Sarah could do not to prevent Casey from coming upstairs with a firearm. Afterwards, facing his two furious partners, Chuck said, "I'll talk to him.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On Wednesday, Morgan did not show up at the Downtown office.

Jeff and Lester did.

"Listen, Charles," drawled Lester, "I've heard of this operation here, and now that I've seen it, my concerns are confirmed. You are grossly understaffed. How do you expect to grow if you do not maximize your human resource potential?"

"He's taking business classes at community college," said Jeff, proudly.

Lester smiled and continued. "What I'm saying is that there is a time for nepotism, and Charles, that time in your life is now."

"Besides," Jeff said in a voice of entitlement, "Morgan said you'd be hiring him, and what's good for him is good for us."

Jeff and Lester, as well as Chuck and Sarah, froze as they each thought they heard a very faint male voice scream from the floor underneath them.

"What was that?" asked Lester.

"Never mind, that," interrupted Sarah. "Morgan said _what_?"

"Nobody is being hired, here!" said Chuck, loudly. "This is a three-person operation, that's it!"

"What a gyp," muttered Jeff.

"Three person operation, indeed!" said Lester. "Where's your third, anyway? Where's Casey?"

"He's out," growled Sarah.

"Yeah, and you'd better hope he stays that way," added Chuck.

Jeff and Lester left in a huff, and a moment later Casey was upstairs. His right eye was throbbing. "If I've just burst an aneurysm, Bartowski-"

"I'LL TALK TO HIM!!!" Chuck shouted.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alas, if Morgan was only inserting himself into their lives at the workplace, Sarah might have been able to retain her grasp on sanity. However, she was starting to strongly consider Ellie's words of warning. Should short-term living arrangements become long-term, madness was a distinct possibility.

Chuck's friend did not seem to have a grasp of such things as consideration for others.

One day, Sarah opened her refrigerator to find that one entire shelf had been taken over by grape soda. The items that had been on the shelf were still in the fridge, but they had been shoved haphazardly onto other spaces without order. Some of the food items were slightly crushed.

"I'll talk to him," moaned Chuck.

Sarah didn't know what Morgan was doing during the day besides the two times he visited their office. He claimed to be performing job and apartment searching, but she wasn't sure. She'd ask how it went, and Morgan would reply that it went well, but when she asked for specifics, he'd react in a put-out manner.

Chuck reassured her that Morgan _was_ looking, but how would he know for sure? It wasn't as if Chuck was providing any specifics to her about this, either! Chuck reminded her that they were in the midst of a major recession, and that it took up to six months to find a new job in the best of times.

Sarah didn't think she could stomach the idea of Morgan being around for six months.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To his credit, Chuck _was_ talking to Morgan. Sarah didn't know if Morgan was sufficiently inspired to find better housing or work, but at least he wouldn't usually commit the same grievous errors twice. After Wednesday, Team Bartowski weren't visited by anybody at work. There was still grape soda in the fridge, but it was organized in a more considerate manner. Additionally, after the first two days, Chuck hadn't spent _too_ much time with Morgan. Oh, there would be the game here and there, but they weren't marathon sessions, and her boyfriend was back to spending the lion's share of time with her, thankfully.

Still, Sarah continued to wait for the other shoe to drop.

So it was that on Thursday night, she and Chuck were hanging around in their bedroom at almost midnight. The events of the week had taken their toll on her, and Sarah was visibly achy and on edge. Chuck asked her about it.

"Sorry. Sorry, I'm just tense."

"I can see that." Chuck scooted behind her, brought his fingers to her neck, and began a gentle massage. Sarah gratefully gave herself over to him, groaning in pleasure as he applied pressure at sensitive areas.

"Tell me if it's too much," said Chuck.

"I will, but so far, it's just right." She was practically purring. "You're really good at this. Intersect?"

Chuck laughed. "I _scoff_ at your Intersect. The finger magic is pure Chuck."

"Pure Chuck," she mused. "Can I bottle it?"

"Too dangerous. God help us if it got on the open market."

"Mmmm." She didn't say anything for awhile after that. She simply let herself enjoy.

A half-hour later, Sarah was feeling exquisite. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can stop now."

"Sure, I can stop. But are you sufficiently relaxed?" She suddenly felt his lips on her neck.

Sarah smiled, enjoying the new stimulation. "I may be _too_ relaxed. I think I need some excitement now."

"Well," he paused while moving his lips to the other side of her neck, "I do try to be considerate of your needs."

From there, clothing was shed, and Sarah let herself float for awhile, while Chuck made his way down her body. He had reached the destination they both desired, and had started. Sarah's let her eyes close, enjoying. It wasn't going to take long.

There was a knock on the door.

"Hey guys? I'm all out of toothpaste. Do you mind if I borrow some of yours?"

Sarah's eyes snapped open.

Chuck looked up from where he was, and when he saw the expression on her face, he quickly whispered, "I'll talk to him."

Sarah pulled herself away from Chuck. Without looking at him, she put her bathrobe on.

"Sarah, what are you doing?" Chuck said in a tense whisper.

"I'm going to talk to him," she said in a soft, neutral voice.

"Oh, Sarah, I really don't think that's a good idea. In your state of mind, you might hurt him."

"No, I won't Chuck," she said in the same calm voice. "I'm just going to talk to him."

"Sarah, he's my best fri-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!" Chuck screamed and his eyes bulged as Sarah grabbed his head and pulled it suddenly to her face, just barely avoiding knocking their heads together. She looked at him intensely.

"Y'know what? He's not that good of a friend," Chuck said meekly.

Sarah considered that. Then she let Chuck go, and turned to the door.

________________________________________________________________________

On the other side of the door, Morgan waited impatiently. He knew they weren't asleep. He could hear them moving around in there. Why hadn't they answered him?  
"Guys," he repeated, "I need some toothpaste! I don't have dental insurance, and can't afford cavities!" He listened. They were whispering in there. The whispering sounded a bit heated, but he couldn't make it out. Suddenly he heard a small scream that sounded a lot like Chuck. A few moments later, the door violently opened. Sarah was standing there in a bathrobe. Her body seemed kinda tense, but she was smiling. Her smile was strange. Morgan had never seen it before, and didn't know how to describe it. From behind her, Chuck, only in his underwear, was standing on the bed. His eyes were wide, staring at Morgan. He seemed to be mouthing a word. Morgan tried to figure out what the word was, but frankly, he had never been good at that kind of thing.

Before he could ask though, Sarah said, "Let me help you get that toothpaste, Morgan."

Morgan shrugged. Sarah closed the door behind her, leaving Chuck in the bedroom. Morgan followed Sarah to the bathroom, where she opened the medicine cabinet, grabbed some toothpaste, turned around, and handed it to Morgan.

"Oh, the medicine cabinet!" said Morgan. "Why didn't I think to look there? That's so obvious. I'm sorry for the interruption, Sarah."

Sarah's eyes were gleaming. That strange smile flickered only slightly. "Morgan, can we have a talk?"

"Sure, Sarah. Mind if I brush my teeth first?"

"Go ahead." Morgan found it a bit odd that Sarah stayed in the bathroom while he brushed his teeth. She seemed to be fascinated watching him in the process. Once he was done, he asked her where she desired to talk. She suggested the kitchen table. He followed her into the kitchen, stopping to pull a grape soda from the refrigerator. She stopped smiling for a moment.

"You just brushed your teeth."

Morgan replied, "I need this stuff to sleep."

Her weird smile came back, but Morgan thought her lower lip might be trembling a little bit. She pulled out a chair for him. Morgan sat. Sarah went to the other side of the table and sat down across from him. Morgan opened the tab of his can. Little purple droplets fizzed out. He slurped them up. Then he said, "What would you like to talk about, Sarah?"

"Morgan, have you ever been in a romantic relationship where you and your partner suddenly just clicked?"

"Um..." _What is she talking about?_ "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"A moment where you just looked at each other and knew with total clarity that you both wanted the exact same thing." She paused then added, "I'm talking about passion."

What? What was she doing? Was she coming on to him? And with Chuck just in the other room? "Uh, I've had passion, Sarah. Hell, Anna and I did it in pretty much every part of the Buy More."

"Sex is part of it," she said. "But I'm talking about what leads up to sex. That moment, that realization that you are both on the same wavelength."

Morgan thought about it. He and Anna had been of the same mind about enjoying each other, and liking to get it on, anytime, anywhere. Was that what Sarah meant? "I think I've experienced that," he said, trying to project confidence.

"Have you? Are you sure? In case you're not sure, let me give you a good example."

"E-example?" Morgan wasn't at all sure he was comfortable with that.

"Chuck and I were going out for almost two years. We enjoyed each other's company. We were dating, but for reasons I won't go into, we were taking it slow. There was passion, sure, but... we were taking it slow, and that was pretty much my fault."

Here, her smile faltered. The look that came over her face then was one of regret. She continued, "That's why we'd break up temporarily. Why he'd consider other women."

"Well, yeah, but Sarah, as you said, it worked out. He'd keep coming back to you, and things are fine now, right?" Morgan gave her a reassuring smile. The expression she gave back was uncertain at first, but then her smile returned. The same, weird smile.  
"As I was saying," Sarah said without answering his question, "Chuck and I were stumbling along in our relationship, trying to deal with our various issues. Anyway, one evening we decided to go on a trip, spur-of-the-moment. We ended up in this small motel out in the middle of nowhere. We went to sleep kind of... tense."

Her smile finally seemed to be changing into something a bit more recognizable and normal. Fond recollection? "The next morning came, and as it turned out, in the middle of the night, Chuck and I had gone from lying next to each other on other sides of the bed to spooning, him behind me."

_Ugh. Spooning._ Morgan hated it when Anna would ask to do that. It was always too hot, and his arm would fall asleep under her. He felt bad for Chuck. Morgan wondered why Sarah was telling him this.

She continued. "We were still mostly asleep. Chuck was holding me. Our right hands found each other, and just started rubbing each other softly."

Morgan was starting to get very uncomfortable. "Sarah, I'm not sure you should be telling me this."

Ignoring him, Sarah continued. Her eyes were still looking at Morgan but they had taken on an almost dreamy quality. "The hands would rise and fall together, until they gradually interlocked."

"Sarah," Morgan whined.

"There was heat all over us, as I turned my body around to face Chuck."

"I don't want to listen to this!"

"I found him there, giving me the most intense wanting gaze I've ever received."

Morgan placed his fingers in his ears, closed his eyes, and shouted, "LA-LA-LA!!!"

Two small but insanely strong hands grabbed Morgan's wrists and slammed them back down on the table. Morgan's eyes popped open. His grape soda had gone flying. Sarah was holding his wrists to the table and was keeping him there in spite of his struggling. She appeared to be doing this without the least bit of effort. She was leaning toward him. Her eyes were serene.

"We clicked."

Morgan's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe this was happening. He quit struggling and just stared at Sarah.

"Chuck lunged for me and I received him. We were kissing, trying to devour each other, really. It was probably less than a minute, but it felt like forever, it really did. Suddenly, he stopped kissing me, and pulled away. I was at a complete loss as to why he did that. Then he looked at me again, as if asking me something. And at that moment, as we looked into each other's eyes a second time, we both knew what we wanted more than anything else in the world. We knew that this...." She paused, and for a moment it looked like she was almost trying to keep a tear from forming in her eyes. Then she refocused. "This was going to be the best sex of our lives."

"Oh God save me," moaned Morgan, horror-struck.

"We kissed each other one more time, then Chuck told me to just wait for a moment. Then he was off me and moving quickly to the bathroom."

In spite of himself, Morgan asked, "Um, why exactly was he going to the bathroom?"

Sarah's smile grew wider then he had ever seen it. "To get protection, Silly!"

Morgan froze. Suddenly, a nagging thought entered his head. And with that thought, understanding. _Oh no._"Chuck went to his wallet to get a condom. And Morgan, do you know what he found there when he looked?" Morgan finally realized what that strange smile she had all this time was: A predator's smile.

He didn't say anything, even when he felt her fingernails ever so slightly indent the skin on his wrists. _Oh, nonononononononono._"Do you?" Her voice was low and throaty. The most terrifying thing he had ever heard.

"I'm sorry!" he squeaked out.

She suddenly let go of his hands. Then, still smiling and staring at him, Sarah said, "Now, Morgan, are you ever going to keep me and Chuck from having sex again?"

"No, no, no, no. I swear to God, no."

"Do you have any inkling of what is going to happen to you if you ever again keep me and Chuck from having sex?"

"I don't want to know!"

"That's wise."

"I'll really start looking for a place to live tomorrow!"

"That's nice."

"I'm going to clean up my grape soda, and go to bed!"

"That's considerate."

Sarah stood up from the table. She looked very relaxed. Morgan nearly jumped when she walked over and gave him a warm hug. Then, smiling, she walked back to the bedroom she shared with Chuck.

Morgan sat back in his seat for a few minutes, trying to return his heart to its prior rhythm.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**So! A couple of brief notes about this chapter:**

**I finally got to use Jeff and Lester, albeit briefly. I love those guys. I just never have sufficient inspiration to give them the space they deserve.**

**My favorite scene from Season 1 (and I think, the funniest scene that the show has had) was Lester's botched attempt to seduce Sarah, and the way she dealt with it. "I'LL BE RIGHT THERE, JEFF!" (Kills me every time.)**

**My favorite scene from Season 2 (and I think, the hottest scene that the show has had) was the morning wakeup in Barstow.**

**Thus, the end of this chapter was my attempt at mixing those two scenes. Don't know if it worked, and alas, Lester wasn't there. Morgan had to sit in.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi all! Well, here is Chapter 5. I have a draft for Chapter 6 but it will need LOTS of editing before it can meet the public. And I haven't even started Chapter 7 (which may be more of an epilogue than a full chapter, but we'll see). Then after THAT, it'll probably take quite awhile before I'm finished with the next section to come after Sarah Vs. the Best Friend. Complicated stuff to come. **

**Thanks for the reviews, folks. I'm thrilled as always. I love to read them. **

**Thanks to my wife and Anon for editing this stuff. **

**The Chuck Universe will have to survive without my ownership. **

**________________________________________________________________________**

"I can't believe she did that!" moaned Chuck.

"Believe it, my friend," said Morgan. They were standing outside an apartment complex, waiting to be given a tour. The proposed rent might just work, in the event that Morgan obtained at least three roommates for a studio apartment. Also, he would need to accept wading through gangland territory on a daily basis.

Sarah was watching them, of course, as she would need to watch Chuck in any circumstance. However, given the dangerous nature of the neighborhood, she had felt justified in bugging Morgan as an added measure, to ensure that she would have auditory warning if need be. She had promised Chuck that she wouldn't bug _him_ anymore. She had made no such promises about people _with_ Chuck. A nagging thought in Sarah's head suggested that she was doing this so she could listen in on Chuck and Morgan's conversation; however, she reminded herself that as she was a professional, she did not subscribe to such motivations.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry, Morgan," Chuck whined. "I should have stepped in."

From behind her binoculars, Sarah chuffed out a harsh laugh. _Would've liked to see you try. _

"What _were_ you doing exactly?" asked Morgan.

Chuck froze for a moment, perhaps deciding whether or not he should come clean? A lesser man would have come up with some excuse. Chuck admitted, "I was hiding in the bedroom."

"Oh." Morgan didn't seem perturbed by this in the least. "Well, considering all the times you've saved me, you were due to let me dangle at some point." Chuck appeared stricken, but Morgan actually laughed and patted him on the back. "Don't worry about it, Buddy. I haven't had so much excitement since the last time I was almost beat up. And Sarah? I mean, wow. If I hadn't been so terrified, I would have been turned on."

Both Sarah and Chuck groaned simultaneously, though Chuck wasn't aware that Sarah was matching him in horror.

A moment later, someone finally came out to give them a tour. Their guide was a compact, muscular, balding, and shirtless man, who introduced himself as "Larry, the Assistant Landlord". They walked inside and were out of Sarah's view, but at least she could hear them. She was thankful for that.

Larry was an interesting individual. He showed them a room, and then left for a moment. She heard Morgan say, "What's that smell in here? I can't - Is that formaldehyde?" Then, "That guy has the scariest eyes I've ever seen. I mean, it's kinda dark in here, and his pupils are pin-pricks!" Chuck told Morgan to quiet down, because Larry was coming back.

"Listen," Larry said, "This is a great place. And safe. You don't ever need to worry about something bad happening to you here, because I'm right next door, and if there's any trouble, I can easily get into your room like _that_!" Complete silence from Chuck and Morgan. "Just so we're clear," continued Larry, "I don't take kindly to people asking questions about my life. A _man_ minds his own business, is that clear? So, I don't want to hear you ask any questions about my life." Neither Chuck nor Morgan asked any questions. So, Larry spent the next twenty minutes providing unsolicited information about his life, including that he had previously been arrested, and couldn't cross the Texas border as there were people there waiting for him.

There was a pause after that, and then Morgan said, "You've got the most interesting eyes I've ever seen."

Sarah heard Chuck frantically cry, "Morgan!"

Then she heard Larry's voice more intensely than she had previously. He must have been leaning right into Morgan's face for the microphone to pick up his voice so well. "You know, Morgan, the eyes are the window to the _soul_! And right now, I'm looking into your eyes and I can tell _exactly_ what you're thinking."

Sarah was in the process of pulling her gun and stepping out of the car, when she heard Morgan enthusiastically reply, "Really? Cool!"

Chuck said, "Y'know, I think this has been a great visit, and we'll consider taking this place carefully, but we really have to go now." His voice was slightly trembling.

Larry said, "Oh! OK. Well, thanks for coming and checking the room out. We'd love to have you. Take care!"

Sarah waited until she heard Chuck and Morgan start to walk out of the complex, before she took a calming breath, got back into her car, and returned her gun to its hiding place. She didn't bother picking up her binoculars again. Chuck and Morgan were rapidly walking back to Chuck's vehicle.

Once they were inside the car, there was no real reason to keep listening to what they were saying. They were out of the danger zone. She kept listening, anyway. Just in case she needed to hear a carjacking, or something.

"Seems like kind of a cool place," said Morgan. "What?" Sarah could just imagine the expression on Chuck's face at the moment. "Listen, after last night's encounter with Sarah, I could become addicted to the excitement of confrontation! Larry looks like just the kind of guy to provide it."

"Morgan," Chuck said again, "Excitement based on fear of injury or death isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"How would you know?"

"Never mind."

"So, anyway, back to what we were talking about before. Scary as it was, I got some good insight into you and Sarah. I have to say, I am impressed."

"Do we have to discuss the details of what you now know about my sex life?"

"Chuck, if you had been forthcoming in the first place, Sarah wouldn't have had to tell me about your sex life." Sarah was trying to figure out that line of logic. So was Chuck, because he asked what Morgan was talking about. Morgan replied, "You're supposed to tell your best bud all about your sexcapades! I'd do that for you!"

Sarah's facial expression curdled. Chuck said, "OK, first off, I don't ever want to hear about your sexual activities, especially because I don't want to think about having touched places where you've done it. Second, I don't have 'sexcapades', all right? In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Sarah and I don't have any kind of 'capade'. I respect my girlfriend, and our moments of intimacy are special moments that only we share."

"Unless, that is, she shares them with me," replied Morgan.

"That was- She should not have done that!"

Morgan laughed. "Listen, obviously, the reason she did it is because you didn't man up and take my head off for stealing your condom in the first place."

"THANK YOU, MORGAN!" Sarah slapped a hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe she had just yelled that out loud. She was thankful that Morgan and Chuck were several cars away and couldn't hear her.

Chuck said coldly, "I was _going _to get my revenge everlasting on you. She just beat me to it."

"Oh yeah?" Morgan replied in a scoffing voice. "You had multiple, MULTIPLE opportunities to get me."

"It takes time to come up with the perfect sinister plan! You know that!"

There was a pause and then Sarah heard Morgan say, "OK, I'll grant you that."

"It's just," Chuck paused, "I think Sarah got tired of waiting."

"Women. They're impatient," commented Morgan.

Sarah raised both eyebrows at that one.

"Uhhhh..." said Chuck. "Listen, Morgan, I don't think you should take that place. Really, you're welcome to stay with us until you get a nice, affordable and _safe_ place."

"Really, Chuck? Thanks." Sarah's face fell just a little. On one hand, she really had wanted Morgan gone. On the other hand, Chuck was right. She didn't just want to toss Morgan out into the dangerous world without support. "But listen, Chuck," Morgan continued, "I'm not what you would call the best roommate. Y'know, it's this whole poor social skills and immaturity thing I've got going. I think if I stay, I really am going to drive Sarah crazy."

"Morgan, don't worry about Sarah, I-"

"Chuck, no offense, but _you_ should be worrying about Sarah."

"Aw, c'mon Morgan, that's not fair. I know she acted a bit nuts and all, but-"

"No, no. I'm not saying you should worry because she's going to hurt you or anything like that. Chuck, this is the woman you love. The woman who loves you. Ellie can see it, and so can I. Sarah's the _one_ for you. She is it. You two are eventually going to get married, and have kids, the whole thing." Sarah's heart nearly stopped. Her attention was rapt. Morgan said, "Now, you two have just moved in together. That's a big step. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to take a step like that. It scares the hell out of me. That's why I ran scared from Anna, more than once, and now, I've lost her. But it is an important step to take, and it's a hard step. Relationships are made or broken at this point; that's what I hear, anyway. You need to nurture this relationship with Sarah now. You need to focus on each other, and not be distracted."

"Morgan," Chuck sounded choked up; "You're not a distraction."

"Hey, I know that, Chuck. You've always been there for me, man."

"Well, the last two years, not so much."

"Hey, when you fall in love, you're supposed to go off the map, y'know? It took some getting used to, but it's OK. Really. You've been with Sarah for two years, and y'know what? Sure, we see each other less, but you and I are still best friends. Always will be. Right?"

Chuck paused. Sarah imagined that warm smile forming on his face. "Right," he responded.

"Right," Sarah whispered.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friday night, Team Bartowski was notified that Mei-Ling Cho was finally ready to meet with them, and would do so the following morning. Morgan was naturally horrified that Chuck had to work on a weekend, but he didn't complain too loudly. This way, he'd be able to enjoy Saturday morning cartoons without interruption.

So, it was that Chuck, Sarah, and Casey had their reunion with Mei-Ling Cho at an old office building that the FBI unofficially utilized. Chuck greeted Mei-Ling with a warm hug, and though she seemed initially surprised, she soon returned it.

"How's Lee?" Chuck asked.

"He is well, thank you." Mei-Ling smiled. "He required a little therapy to deal with the kidnapping, but just a little. He is back at work now. As part of my deal with the F.B.I., I demanded more protection for him, so nobody can use him against me."

"Demanded?" Casey's eyebrow was raised, disapprovingly.

"Requested," admitted Mei-Ling.

"Casey, it's only fair," said Chuck. "She gave the U.S. government a lot of information when she defected, and that was the deal. She didn't have to go work for the FBI."

Casey snorted, "What _else_ was she gonna do?"

"Forgive my friend," Chuck said to Mei-Ling, while jerking his thumb at Casey, "Being polite isn't his thing."

Mei-Ling shook her head. "Do not apologize. You all helped me save my brother. You never need to apologize to me."

Even Casey had the decency to look somewhat abashed.

They spent much of the day reviewing the latest data Mei-Ling had on the Triad, including a weapons buy that was to transpire in a warehouse late that evening. A weapons buy they would disrupt, with the hopes of arresting some high-level Triad in the process. At the mention of a warehouse, both Chuck and Sarah cast a suspicious eye on Casey. The big man immediately understood, and muttered, "This is not a test." Mei-Ling didn't know what they were talking about, but she didn't press.

The four disbanded at around 4 p.m. and agreed to rendezvous at 10 p.m. that evening. As they left the building, the team was unaware of a considerably serious problem.

Although extra-intensive efforts had been undertaken by the government to conceal her identity and FBI affiliation, Triad leaders had become very aware of Mei-Ling. So it was that when the group exited the building, someone was watching.

Then while Mei-Ling Cho went in one direction, the hidden observer began to follow Team Bartowski home.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It is not a test!" Casey repeated, fuming.

"Fine, that's fine," replied Chuck. "My point is, even if it were a test; that would be fine."

"I don't care if you think it is fine or not; it is not a test!"

"Sure, sure."

They drove in silence for awhile, before Chuck added, "Of course, even if it were a test, you'd tell me it wasn't a test."

Casey's gaze snapped over to Chuck. Sarah said, "Casey, eyes on the road. Chuck, let the man drive."

They made their way back home. When they entered the apartment, Morgan was in the bedroom. His back was on the floor, his head upside down looking at the TV screen, his legs up in a 90 degree angle, leaning against the bed. "Hey guys," he said, "y'want Chinese?" They ordered in and had a nice dinner. Chuck and Sarah had thought that Morgan might still be intimidated by her, but he seemed nothing but relaxed.

At 9 p.m., Sarah and Chuck told Morgan they were going out for a late date. When Morgan asked where, Sarah told him mini-golf. Morgan said, "Niiiiiiice. I've gone with Anna before. Had the time of our lives." Chuck stopped and stared at Morgan with incredulity. Sarah smirked and pulled Chuck out the door.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Morgan watched them leave. He watched with disbelief and disappointment as they went next door and met up with John Casey. The big man left with them.

_Aw c'mon. What the hell?_

If they were going on a mini-golf date, then why was Casey coming along? And if it was a mini-golf game where they actually played mini-golf, then why didn't they invite Morgan too? Morgan turned around and sat on the couch.

He'd told the truth about how he had felt about Chuck and Sarah. Although he wished he could see his friend more, he understood that girlfriends took precedence. But, Sarah was one thing. John Casey was another. Morgan realized that Casey now spent significantly more time with Chuck on a day-to-day basis than Morgan could hope to have. It was unfair. It was depressing.

He was jarred from self-pity by a knock on the front door. _Back so soon? _He jumped up, and walked over. "What did you forget, your keys?" He opened the door, and then gasped in recognition.

"Hello again," the woman said, before her right foot swung in a high arc and smashed Morgan in the face. He fell to the floor unconscious.

As she pulled the small man back into his apartment, Smooth Lau mused how things tend to ultimately work out. Sure, she had a major setback on account of this little shit and that blonde bimbo, but it was coming around again. She had gotten out, been given a new lease on life by the Triad, and even though she hadn't expected it, she would now get an opportunity for revenge.

Life was good.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The woman watched the attack on Morgan via the camera her partner had set up on the apartment premises.

"That's Morgan Grimes. He's Chuck's best friend. Helping him would be a way to potentially get Chuck on our side."

The man responded, "No. We will continue to follow Mr. Bartowski. I am certain the opportunity will come soon for us to play our hand. Not quite yet, but very soon."

________________________________________________________________________

**Hello again! Well, if you've been following the Postcard storyline, it should not be difficult for you to figure out who the mystery couple are. If you haven't been following the Postcard storyline, then go back and read the prior parts, so you can figure out who the mystery couple are! (Heh-heh. HEE!) **

**Like the jumping-off-the-car incident, I periodically like to bring real events into my stuff. **

**Case in point: The incident with "Larry the Assistant Landlord" happened to yours truly, almost exactly as described, except a) The story is MUCH longer than I'm detailing here. Desperate for cheap rent, my roommate and I ended up taking the bad-smelling place. You truly do get what you pay for. Lots of funny, wacky, and terrifying things happened, including my roommate and I planning our escape route in case Larry went berserk, but ultimately, I did not like living in fear, so we moved after a month there. b) The place wasn't in Los Angeles, nor was it in gang territory. Well, as long as we literally stayed on one side of the railroad tracks. ****c) I've changed the names to protect ME, because I'm sure that "Larry" is still out there somewhere. Hopefully, he doesn't read Chuck fanfic.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everybody! Been awhile. Life has kept me busy, and honestly, this was a pain-in-the-ass chapter to write, and it took a long time to edit. Thanks to my wife and Anon for all the suggestions and changes they helped me to make. They worked overtime on this one. **

**I have decided that missions and fight scenes are extremely hard to write, at least for me. **

**There will be one more short chapter after this, an epilogue. I do need to make some final changes to that, then I expect there will be an even longer break while I hash out the new section.**

**Thanks all for your patience, for reading my stuff, and for all your reviews, which I dearly love. Please, keep them coming as they encourage me to keep writing. **

**I don't own any part of Chuck. **

**_______________________________________________________________________ **

During the morning meeting with Team Bartowski, Mei Ling had discussed the operation, including the reasons why she had asked for their assistance.

Mei Ling Cho's reputation in the espionage field had made her a prime target for recruitment by U.S. agencies. Of course, there were the usual concerns about the possibility of her being a double-agent, but the potential benefit of her skills appeared to ultimately outweigh the cons. Not only was Mei Ling able to secure an excellent consultant position with the FBI, she was also given some leeway in decision-making. With that in mind, Mei-Ling had requested the assistance of Team Bartowski on this operation for two reasons:

First, based on the leads she was able to uncover, Mei Ling determined that possible rogue Chinese Intelligence officers were involved, making it reasonable that the CIA should take a hand in this.

Second, in spite of, and because of her reputation, a bond of trust had not fully developed between Mei-Ling and some of her FBI colleagues. In fact, mistrust was the operational word. Some agents were still bitter about the Katrina Leung affair in which the Chinese intelligence officer had apparently started an affair with a FBI agent to steal sensitive documents. The case was dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct, and many in the agency had never forgotten. The agents had been told to cooperate with the new consultant due to her expertise on the Triad, but she knew that some did not do so happily, and, as a rule, she preferred to work with people that she knew would have her back.

Casey, with his pre-existing antipathy toward the FBI, was surprisingly the most sympathetic. Chuck was worried for Mei-Ling's long-term employment prospects in the United States if she couldn't build better rapport, rather than to bring in an outside agency. Sarah had concerns, but more immediate and parochial. They'd still have to work with FBI agents on this operation. Distrust could be dangerous for both sides.

Mei Ling explained that the FBI had an undercover operative within the Triad ranks. However, for safety purposes, Mei Ling had not met the agent, nor was this man apprised as to her existence. The location of the transaction, a restaurant supply warehouse, had not been confirmed until the very morning the operation was to commence. As a result, there had been insufficient time for internal bugging of the site; but, the FBI did have time to stake out the outside area. The warehouse in question was surrounded by tall buildings with many windows, plenty of spots for sniper activity. As opposed to the warehouse in Chuck's test, this site was in a high traffic area with extensive, new Asian punk and hip-hop night life. This was beneficial for both the Triad and the Agents because they'd be able to drive around in plain-clothes without anybody noticing. The operative had provided a head-count of how many Triad would be there, and how many potential buyers would be meeting with them. The Triad didn't have the manpower to fully cover their periphery, so the only guards would likely be on the outside of the building itself.

The bad news was that the interior of the building was impervious to outside visuals, and the undercover agent would need to forgo a wire. All people involved in the transaction would be patted down beforehand. Unlike the Lo Pan affair, the enemy had no security cameras with which Team Bartowski could tap into. They'd be forced to rely on their mobile cameras which would be monitored remotely from a van. One of their team would share that role with a FBI agent.

As with their previous adventure with Mei-Ling, three of them would take out the guards, then make their way inside. (Of course, they hoped to avoid being trapped as they were during the Lo Pan mission.) They would then get audiovisual recording of the buy before calling in the reinforcements. There were only two entrance and exit points, both of which were watched, so any attempted escapees would be caught by the G-Men.

Casey had been ready with a suggestion as to who should do what on the mission. "Walker should be the one in the van." Chuck and Sarah stared at him, but were smart enough not to say anything in Mei Ling's presence. Mei Ling for her part was willing to step away from the briefing room for a moment, when Sarah requested a moment with her partners.

"What are you doing, Casey?" she asked.

"Trial by fire, as we agreed, Walker. Chuck needs to see if he can activate the Intersect when you're not around getting shot at. It's time."

Sarah looked at Chuck. "You don't have to do this."

Chuck was obviously scared. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, his expression had become resolved. "I'm going to have to do it some day. Might as well be now."

Sarah turned an intense gaze to Casey. Before she could say anything, the Colonel said, "I'll keep him alive." She nodded. They called back Mei Ling into the room and told her the plan.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

As planned, the team rendezvoused with Mei-Ling at 10 p.m. and drove to the site.

They parked the van three blocks away, where it could still pick up the camera transmissions. Introductions were made as necessary with the FBI staff, and then the team dispersed to their appropriate spots.

Sarah's partner for the day was a trim, but muscular agent named Dabney Booth. The man seemed to think the world of himself, and didn't even try to be subtle when ogling her. She kept conversation minimal after the initial unpleasantries.

Mei Ling had hidden herself to storm the front entrance. Chuck and Casey found their hiding space around the back. Then the waiting started.

At 11:00, about a half-hour into the stakeout, Sarah was surprised when her cell phone vibrated. She picked it up, a frown on her face. Who would be calling? The name on the phone made her cringe. _Morgan? I don't think so. _She didn't accept the call.

At about 1:30 a.m., the scouts for the Triad began to arrive. Their sweep of the premises took about an hour. The major players began to gradually show up after that, in small numbers, so they wouldn't be noticed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, in one of the tall buildings on the periphery of the warehouse, Fu Tung Cheng pushed the body of a federal agent to the side, sheathed his just-cleaned blade, and took up the rifle that the agent had been so kind to set-up for him.

Cheng was thankful that this trap was going according to plan. The FBI thought they were safe staking out the Triad? The fools had no idea. Cheng didn't know who had set it up, but at least that person seemed to know what they were doing. Cheng's fellows were even now elsewhere in the buildings surrounding the warehouse, racking up the FBI body count. They wouldn't get everybody, but enough to send a message to the Feds. If it was to be war, the Triad would win. To be sure, many Triad gangs had chosen caution, but what had that gotten them? In Los Angeles, they were losing ground all the time to crackdowns. Cheng fully bought into the idea that they should fight back in earnest.

With that in mind, he looked for a target in the rifle scope. _Ah, perfect. _There were the two CIA agents as promised. These were the ones who had taken down Lo Pan, and buggered Smooth Lau's prior operation. No wonder Lau had wanted revenge. Well, there was no time like the present. He lined up his shot. First the curly-haired one -

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Fu Tung Cheng's head exploded, his body falling to the side of his recently acquired rifle.

"Good shot," the man said.

"At least, that's one less person who'll target Chuck," said the woman, considering her silenced weapon.

"Let's go. We have several more to take care of before we're done."

"I can't believe we're saving the FBI's ass," mused Dr. Jill Roberts.

"Strange bedfellows," Vincent replied. "There will be others."

They continued on with their bloody work.

________________________________________________________________________

From her hiding place, Mei-Ling's camera picked up each of the criminals entering the warehouse. From here, Sarah would capture their images before transmitting them to Chuck's iPhone. In turn, Chuck flashed on each and reported his findings to Casey.

Chuck whispered, "All Triad. Some big fish, all right. None of the Chinese Intelligence that Mei-Ling was telling us about, though."

Casey grunted, as normal. He would have loved to take down some rogue Chinese spies. Well, you couldn't have everything.

At 3:30 a.m., they were told that the party had started. Sarah watched Mei-Ling take out the front guard with ease. She gave Casey and Chuck the go ahead. Casey gestured for Chuck to go first. Chuck mouthed, "No, no. After you." Casey shook his head, but moved forward. A second later, Casey's target guard was silently taken down. He turned to Chuck, and made sure Chuck's semi-automatic pistol was loaded.

They entered the warehouse, Chuck right behind Casey. As they went, they'd usually locate the guards before the enemy could see them. Each time, Casey would quietly motion to Chuck to see if he wanted to make an attempt to subdue one. Each time, Chuck shook his head. He wasn't flashing. Casey was annoyed, but thanked God for at least _some_ small favors. Chuck had learned to effectively move silently.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Why isn't the skinny guy doing anything?" asked Booth.

"He's a specialist," replied Sarah, not taking her eyes from the monitor screen.

"A specialist in what?"

Before Sarah could make a snide remark, her cellular phone vibrated again. "God damn it!" she muttered.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

They heard voices. Chuck and Casey had made good progress. They snuck forward. Beautiful. The dealers were in place. There was a bag of bills on the floor, and a bunch of guns lined up on a table. A few Triad were examining the weapons.

________________________________________________________________________

Sarah yanked the phone from her pocket. Booth looked at her disapprovingly. "Why don't you turn that thing off?"

"I will," Sarah growled. She should have done that in the first place after all. "Right after I gave this little shit a piece of my mind." She couldn't believe the nerve of Morgan! Hadn't she taught him a lesson? He was probably worried that his precious best friend hadn't come home by curfew. She flipped open the phone. "Listen, Morgan, I-"

"It's not Morgan" replied a cold, familiar, female voice on the other end. "It's payback."

Sarah froze. She knew better than to say anything, at least immediately. "Now, Blondie," the voice continued, "I'm sending a picture to your phone and a text message. Open them. I'll see you soon." The person on the other end disconnected.

Sarah heard a beep. She found the messages and opened them. Her eyes widened at the picture on the screen. Morgan was lying down with his eyes closed. He might have been asleep. Sarah prayed that he was only unconscious. His head was cradled in the lap of Smooth Lau. She had a knife to his throat. The text message said, "Come alone, if you ever want him to wake up." What followed was an address for a parking garage, only two blocks away.

Sarah immediately called her team. "Abort! It's a trap. They know you're there!" She swirled her head to Booth. "Bring all your people in, now!"

She opened the van door and began running, away from the warehouse. "Where do you think you're going?" Booth called after her. Sarah ignored him. All of her instincts were screaming to run to Chuck. However, behind that was something else. She saw a vision, a vision of herself having to explain to him how she had let his best friend die. Casey would protect him. The FBI would be there in a moment. It wasn't too late. She'd have to count on that. Chuck would be safe. She had to protect somebody else now.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Chuck's stomach dropped as he heard Sarah's words. "Casey!" he whined in a whisper.

"Back up," said the big man.

Unfortunately, that was the point where the Triad on the floor took their various guns and began to shoot in Chuck and Casey's direction. Casey shoved him and Chuck onto the floor behind a partition, just as several bullets started blowing chunks out of it.

"Now would be a good time to flash, Bartowski!"

"I'm not, I'm not-" stammered Chuck.

Casey swore. "Don't let go of your gun. Intersect or no, fire! Fire, damn it!"

Casey quickly leaned around their cover and let off a shot, before coming back.

Chuck marshaled his courage and then turned around and fired. Into the floor. About five feet from where the bad guys were.

Casey saw. "This is why you _practice_, Asswipe! OK, screw this. You run. Looks like I gotta do all of this by my-" Casey leaned around the partition to shoot and was blown backwards by a bullet tearing through his shoulder. He hit the floor.

Though Casey couldn't be sure in his dazed state lying on the ground, he thought he saw Chuck Bartowski grab his gun, in addition to the one Chuck was already carrying. He saw Chuck get up and start firing John Wu style. Then Chuck dove forward, and for a brief while, Casey saw nothing, though he thought he heard plenty of screams.

_______________________________________________________________________

Sarah had made it to the second floor of the parking garage when she saw them. As far as she could tell, the place was deserted besides them. If Smooth Lau had her flunkies around, it appeared that she had sent them away. Lau was leaning against a car. Morgan's head, no longer cradled in her lap, was lying on the pavement. Lau's left foot was right next to Morgan's head. A knife was in her hand, and she was carelessly swinging it back and forth in a pendulum over him. When Sarah was twenty feet away, Lau gave her the motion to stop.

"Is he dead?" asked Sarah.

"Nah, just drugged. I wanted him to stay out while we discuss his future. Drop your gun."

Sarah did so. Lau cheerily thanked her and then lifted her dagger up ready to toss in downward into Morgan.

Sarah's hand ripped her first knife from her leg sheath and sent it flying, smacking Lau's blade from her hand before the woman had thrown it. In the second that it took Lau to recover from that, Sarah had loosed her remaining knives at Lau. While her adversary was focused deflecting those with her hands and feet, Sarah closed the distance between them.

Sarah was hoping to use her momentum to shove Lau up and over the car away from Morgan, but Lau had recovered sufficiently by the time Sarah had gotten there, to plow into Sarah with a devastating right cross. Sarah managed to maintain her equilibrium, if barely, to deflect Lau's following upper cut.

Sarah was at a significant disadvantage in that now they were literally fighting over Morgan's body. Sarah had to be careful so as not to accidentally step on him. Lau didn't have such compunctions. Neither of them was wearing heels at least, though if Lau desired it, she could summon enough force to crush Morgan's head with her foot. Sarah tried to keep Lau distracted enough so she wouldn't do that.

Sarah head-butted Lau. That was a mistake. Lau laughed at her before returning the head-butt in much more effective fashion. Sarah fell backwards onto Morgan. Grinning, Lau stepped over the two on the ground and brought her foot down. Sarah grabbed the foot and managed to flip Lau away.

Both stood up shakily. The two combatants considered each other. Smooth Lau said, "You know what? I'm making this harder than it needs to be." Then pulling a gun seemingly from nowhere, Lau shot Morgan in the chest.

"NO!" Sarah moved fast enough to grab Lau's gun hand and force her arm up. She nerve pinched Lau's wrist as she punched her foe in the solar plexus. Lau tried to let out a breath, dropping the gun. Sarah grabbed Lau's head, and sharply turned the neck. Sarah heard a snap.

Letting the body fall, Sarah walked painfully back to Morgan. Kneeling down, she took his face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Morgan sniffed a little bit, and then started snoring. Sarah dropped his head in shock. Then she gasped because she had dropped his head. In spite of the fact that his skull hit the asphalt, Morgan kept snoring.

Sarah's gaze went to the site where he had been shot. The bullet had torn a hole through his shirt pocket. Sarah put her finger into the hole, and felt metal. She looked into the pocket and pulled out a Nintendo DS. The bullet was lodged in it.

She sat in awe looking from the console to Morgan. "Bullet-proofing for nerds," she said, shaking her head.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

When John Casey woke up, it was to find both Chuck Bartowski and Mei-Ling Cho kneeling over him. "Wha- happened?" he croaked.

"You got shot in the shoulder," Chuck said. It's going to be fine, John. We've patched you up as much as we can, until the ambulance gets here, and it looks like the bullet went clean through."

"The Triad?"

"See for yourself," said Mei-Ling. She was looking at Chuck with a strange expression.

With their help, Casey stood and surveyed the scene. 15 Triad were on the ground. Only one of them was dead. Five of them had been knocked unconscious. Another nine had been shot, all in the extremities. All the guns had been collected and stacked on the table. FBI agents were just starting to come in and survey the scene.

Casey turned to Mei-Ling. "How many of those were you?"

Mei-Ling said in an awed voice. "Just one. The dead one. I was late to arrive, and I saw… The rest were Chuck. I've never seen anything like it. When the Feds find out-"

"Y'know, how you don't totally trust the Feds, Mei-Ling?" interrupted Casey. "Neither do we. For the record, I shot three of them, Bartowski shot two, and you took care of the rest. All right?"

To her credit, Mei-Ling didn't hesitate. "All right."

She walked away, to help her fellow agents with the clean-up. Casey turned his face to look at Chuck, and observed Bartowski's expression ever-so-gradually change from solemn to smug.

"It appears that I've transferred my affections again."

"Aw, no," groaned Casey, as the significance of events hit him.

Chuck gave his most ingratiating smile, then holding his hands to his heart said, "I wuv you, John Casey." Chuck then walked away, laughing hysterically.

Casey's face crumpled. "They couldn't have shot me dead?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Chuck greeted the paramedics as they arrived at the door, and directed them to where Casey was. He walked back to the van whistling a happy tune, then stopped.

Sarah was standing in front of the van, the limp body of Morgan in her arms.

"Morgan!" Chuck ran up to her, but she wearily told him, "He's fine. Just sleeping off the drugs." She proceeded to explain to Chuck what had happened. She even told him about the final fate of Smooth Lau, though she was worried about his possible reaction. She needn't have. Chuck didn't even flinch at Lau's demise.

"All that matters is that you're both OK. Thank you. Thank you so much." He began kissing her passionately, but she stopped him. "Chuck, I'm still holding Morgan, and he's heavy."

"Oh! Oh, sorry. Oh God, how're we going to explain it this time?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

When he woke up, he was surprised to find himself lying on the bed that used to belong to Devon and Ellie. His face and chest hurt, but he found that he was bandaged.

Chuck was sitting next to him. "We've gotta stop meeting like this, Buddy."

Morgan tried to get up, but then a headache hit him. He groaned. "Where'd that truck disguised as a woman go?"

"Aren't you a little bit old to still get beaten up by girls?" Chuck asked, amused.

"Chuck, I have never figured out why this woman has it in for me, but it's like, y'know ever since she met me, man, she's obsessed! It's weird to have somebody stalking _me_ for a change.

"I'll bet. Well, you don't have to worry about her. The cops got her."

Chuck helped Morgan to his feet, and they walked to the living room, surveying the destruction as they went. Smooth Lau had taken great enjoyment out of "redecorating" the apartment. A female cop was talking to Sarah in the doorway. Sarah looked like she had her own facial injuries.

"Aw no, Sarah! Did she get you too?"

Sarah nodded. "We came home just in time but she got in a couple of punches before she took off. Anyway, Chuck called the cops, and they got her."

"Chuck! You didn't protect your girlfriend?" Morgan seemed outraged on Sarah's behalf.

Chuck looked at Sarah apologetically. "I guess I'm just not the brave type, buddy."

"Well, everything seems to be in order," said the police officer. "Will you be all right, Mr. Grimes?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll recover, Officer… Cho?" He saw her name on her badge. "Hey, listen if you need me to testify-"

"I don't think that will be necessary. This woman has enough charges on her record to put her away a very long time without your help, but thank you."

"Oh, OK. Well, um, I don't suppose you'd be interested in discussing the case on your off hours?"

Chuck and Sarah turned and looked at Morgan. He shrugged. Officer Cho smiled and said, "Not this time, but who knows? I know where you live." Flashing her smile to the other two, she then turned around and walked out.

"You just had to, didn't you?" asked Chuck with a smirk.

"What can I say, man? You take your opportunities where you can get them."

"When did Asian women become your type, anyway?"

"Hey, it's not that I'm attracted to _them_, Chuck. They can't keep themselves away from me!"

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It was another hour before Mei-Ling Cho returned to her apartment. She was exhausted. Well, she'd get to sleep soon. She just had one more thing to do.

She turned on her video monitor, and waited. Gradually, a vision of a face in shadow appeared on her screen.

"Well?"

"Well," said Mei-Ling, "All in all, I'd say the operation was a success with some caveats.

As it turned out, I 'unfortunately' killed the undercover operative, but having never been notified who that operative was going to be, it is an understandable mistake. There will be an Internal Affairs investigation, of course, but I am not concerned as to the outcome.

Sadly, we were unable to assassinate all of the specific FBI agents we wanted. There was somebody else – another factor, who was there and ready for us."

"Are the CIA or NSA on to us, then?"

"If they are, my guess is that Casey, Walker, and Bartowski don't know about it. I'm almost positive they were surprised by everything that happened."

"We'll keep our eyes out. The Ring keeps apprised of any and all threats and deals with them. What else?"

"Smooth Lau is dead."

"We will not mourn her loss. She let petty revenge get in the way of our operation. What about the most important matter?"

Mei-Ling smiled. "Success. Chuck Bartowski is confirmed to be uploaded with the new Intersect. Its abilities are beyond what we had imagined. No wonder that Miles and his team were captured. I'm sending the video coverage to you, now."

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	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everybody! OK, so here's the final chapter of Sarah Vs. Best Friend. Thanks to my wife and Anon for editing the sucker. **

**Thanks everybody for your reviews. Please keep them coming.**

**I don't own anybody in the Chuck U, and this will be brought home sooner than I thought if the show returns earlier rather than later. **

**As I said before, I anticipate the next section will take awhile to write. From here on out, it will only get harder. (Well, I'll just have to take that out on the characters. Duh-DUH!)**

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Later that day, after visiting Casey in the hospital, Chuck and Sarah had their video conference with Beckman. The two had already discussed what they were going to say, specifically about Chuck's "plan". But first, there was the matter of reviewing the events of the previous night. During this process, Beckman's face was inscrutable. After Chuck and Sarah had finished though, the General gave her summation.

"This was a mixed operation to put it mildly. At least, the mission parameters were achieved, but six FBI agents were lost, including the undercover operative that Cho mistakenly killed. Colonel Casey was wounded. The Intersect activated inconsistently, and refused to kill any of the enemy. And," – the General turned her face to Sarah – "Agent Walker left without leave in the midst of the mission."

Sarah returned the General's gaze with a neutral one of her own.

Chuck said, "General, Smooth Lau had uncovered the location of our residence. It was necessary for Agent Walker to deal with her before Lau could spread the information. Agent Walker successfully neutralized the threat."

"I see," was the General's dry response. "And the fact that your friend, Mr. Grimes, was saved from Smooth Lau is just a bonus in your eyes, Mr. Bartowski?"

Chuck shrugged. "Doesn't really matter how I feel. What matters are the results. Agent Walker knew that we had sufficient manpower to deal with the prime mission, and she recognized the need for her to address the new threat."

The General's eyes narrowed. "You would evaluate that you did well in the prime mission?"

Chuck flinched slightly. "No, General, I would not."

Sarah looked at him sharply. This wasn't what they had discussed, but Sarah shouldn't have been surprised. Chuck had initially related the events to her with glee, particularly because of what he had said to Casey afterwards. However, in the midst of his story, Chuck had made a sobering realization, one that he was coming forward with now.

Chuck continued, "I was unsuccessful in activating the Intersect's offensive / defensive capabilities, until after Colonel Casey had been shot. I take responsibility for his injury."

The General's expression appeared uncertain. Not surprising, that. Beckman was used to the immature, unprofessional Chuck Bartowski. This man reporting to her was not making jokes. He was acting mature, taking responsibility for himself. He was speaking in a professional manner. As much as Sarah adored Chuck's irreverent side, she admitted that there was a time and place for it, and that wasn't when they were in the General's presence. Casey had been on Chuck's case forever to change his attitude. Maybe the Colonel had finally succeeded, the hard way.

"What about the fact that you didn't kill any of the enemy agents, but only wounded them?" asked Beckman.

"What can I tell you, General? I never specifically thought, 'Don't kill them.' If the Intersect picked that up subconsciously from me, there's not much I can do about it. I was successfully able to incapacitate the enemy through wounding. You'll be able to secure information from them, and possibly future arrests. It wasn't necessary to kill them. I'm not going to kill just to prove I can do it. Maybe there will be a point somewhere along the way where it will be necessary for me to kill. If or when that time comes, hopefully, both the Intersect and I will recognize the need and do it. Not before."

"Is that the plan you agreed to have for me? 'Wait and see?'"

"As to the plan"- Chuck paused, looked at Sarah, and then returned his gaze to the screen – "My plan would have us resume as we have been. Continue a combination of testing and actual missions, not necessarily keeping me apprised to which is which. Agent Walker will take part in planning those tests as well, and will not inform me of which is test and which is real."

The General raised her eyebrows. Clearly, she hadn't expected that suggestion from Chuck. She looked at Sarah who maintained her neutral expression. Sarah and Chuck had planned this. They knew that even though the General would not talk about it overtly, she was well aware of what Sarah had done in the last test. By both agreeing to have Sarah actively take part in the test planning – that she would sometimes be dishonest with Chuck – they were communicating to the General their willingness to put the mission ahead of themselves. At least, in this case.

"What else?" asked the General.

"I was thinking we could try some hypnosis with me, if the government is willing to pay for it. Since my subconscious isn't cooperating, maybe we could plant some suggestions in my head to convince the Intersect that it needs to activate when I ask it to, or at least to protect myself when necessary."

Beckman frowned. "I don't know how much television you've been watching Mr. Bartowski, but in real life, hypnosis isn't exactly a consistent tool. Results are variable."

Chuck sighed. "I know it's not a great plan, General. I'm just saying it might be worth a try."

"It might be worth _consideration_," replied the General. "And if we try it and it doesn't work?"

"Then, you still have your choice. You can let us continue on as we have been, realizing that I am making progress, though maybe not as fast as we'd like. For all I know, General, after what happened with Casey last night, the Intersect might now click on, realizing the consequences of what happens if it doesn't."

Sarah didn't say anything, but she thought there was a strong chance that might actually happen. They'd experienced the precedent with her and the seduction nightmare.

Chuck continued, "If you're not satisfied with that, then you always have the alternative you've been threatening me with. I don't want that, but I can't stop you, can I?"

The General nodded slowly. "Very well. We'll look into the hypnotism track, and Agent Walker will be included in any testing plans. Then, we'll see." She appeared to be wrapping up the meeting, but then added, "Oh by the way, except for the undercover agent, all the FBI agents who were killed had been in the buildings around the warehouse."

"Uh, yeah. Smooth Lau had obviously found out about the operation and had her Triad thugs set a trap for us," said Chuck.

"Yes. We're still trying to determine how she found out. But there's something else. There might have been more federal agents murdered, but the Triad assassins were themselves shot and killed on the site. None of the federal agents are taking credit for this, and the bullets taken from the Triad bodies weren't federal issue. We haven't been able to determine yet from where they came. None of the agents saw anybody, but it appears our side had some kind of guardian angel last night."

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other, bewildered.

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They had come home, and spent a couple hours cleaning up the apartment with Morgan, who, to their astonishment, had already started the process in their absence. After that, Casey had called. Sarah had taken the phone into the other room and reviewed the meeting with Beckman. Casey seemed impressed with their performance in the meeting, though perhaps, a little skeptical that she would be willing to lie to Chuck again. She assured him that both she and Chuck were going to do what was necessary. After that, Casey had asked to talk to Chuck. She was walking with the phone back to the living room, which she caught the conversation.

"-And Mom's OK with me staying on the couch until I find a place. I had to tell her I wouldn't walk around naked, either." Morgan laughed.

She heard Chuck reply, "Morgan, that's… Thanks, buddy."

"Nah, thank _you_, Chuck. Both you and Sarah have put up with me-"

That was the point where Sarah came in to interrupt. Both men went silent at her entry. "Um, Chuck, Casey's on the line. You'd better take it in the other room."

"Oh!" Chuck looked at Morgan then wordlessly took the portable phone from Sarah and walked into the bedroom.

Sarah turned to Morgan. He was watching Chuck walk away, his face gradually falling into a sad frown. Sarah felt bad. Morgan was leaving, and now he was miserable. She had caused this.

"Beef stir fry for dinner?"

Morgan nodded absently still looking wistfully in Chuck's direction. Sarah started pulling her ingredients.

Obviously, the phone call with Chuck and Casey was going on for awhile. She had been five minutes into her meal preparation, when she heard, "Sarah?" She turned. Morgan had turned his wounded face toward her.

"Yes, Morgan?" She tried to put on a brave smile. Why was she worried about what he would say?

"What does John Casey have that I don't?" Morgan whined.

"Huh?" She had no idea what to do with that.

"I mean, I've been there for Chuck for _years_. Then that big slab of meat comes along and kicks me out of the best friend slot. It's like Bryce Larkin all over again!"

Just like that, Sarah's nerves relaxed, and it was all she could do not to start laughing. Instead, she placed her hand on her forehead, sighed and sat down across from the little man.

"Morgan, I know Chuck pretty well. I assure you, you have nothing to worry about from John Casey."

"Really?" Morgan looked hopeful.

"Really. Trust me, you'll always be Chuck's best friend." Sarah didn't feel threatened by the label anymore, and Morgan needed it.

"Oh good." She saw his face filling with relief. "Thanks Sarah. You may be scary sometimes, but you're really cool. I'm glad you're Chuck's girlfriend."

She could tell he was being absolutely genuine.

Sarah said, "Y'know what? We're going to have to get a weekly game night over here for you guys. I mean, Chuck and I have weird work hours sometimes, so we might need to reschedule, but if we have to do that, we'll make it up."

Morgan's grin widened. "Hey, I'd like that!"

"I'm sure Chuck will too." She walked over to the counter, laid out the meat, and pulled out the butcher knife and spices. She looked at Morgan. He was looking back at her and smiling, gratefully. She thought, _Oh, what the Hell, why not?_

She casually took the knife and gave it a lazy flip into the air. It somersaulted twice. She caught it easily by the handle, and began slicing the meat. She let her eyes shift to Morgan.

His mouth had dropped wide open. "How….How?"

"I once worked in Hibachi, myself. I never told you?"

Morgan stammered, "My GOD! Would you teach me?"

Sarah smiled.

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End file.
